


rocks off on the coast

by metalgear



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Character Death Fix, Domestic, Fluff, Hugs, Other, Reader-Insert, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalgear/pseuds/metalgear
Summary: A tender moment with a happier, healthier Asher.
Relationships: Asher Mir/Original Character(s), Asher Mir/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	rocks off on the coast

His middle is soft when you hug him, and it’s only one of the many things about him that you love. His sweater still fits on him loose despite the bit of pudge, and you grab a handful of loose fabric in the front as you grip onto him. He used to squirm out of these hugs, he used to refuse this touch and you went along with it because his comfort came first. He was a bit like a wounded dove, and you felt as though you were nursing him back to health. Maybe not physically, but mentally.

His physical health has improved lately, too. Eating better and sleeping more than a few hours a night, constantly interrupted by nightmares, does wonders for the body. That’s something else that you helped him with, but it’s also something that you had to learn for yourself, too. You guided one another through that, less like caretakers for one another and more like...well, more like lovers. 

You were, at a point, more resistant than he was to the idea of being more than friends. You rolled the idea around in your head like a pearl in the mouth of an oyster, feeling it grow more luminescent and appealing the more it aged. Asher took to it like he took to any ideas that weren’t his own: abrasively, begrudgingly, but coming around eventually and admitting that it was a good one. When he finally admitted that it was what he wanted, you trailed behind, afraid to take that step. You made it, finally, together.

You still remember the night that you took his hand and kissed it, and he looked so befuddled for a moment before giving you his  _ other _ hand and telling you to repeat the motion where he could actually feel it. You had laughed and apologized for the mistake, and he had smiled at you- something that he was doing more and more these days.

Asher couldn’t get his hand back, but the scientists at the tower had finally figured out a way to stop the spread of the Vex ‘infection’ in his body. His heart and lungs were scarred from the process, and he would never be physically where he was before- nor would he ever get his Ghost back. You were both acutely aware that he was living on borrowed time. Asher hadn’t taken the news well at first, even though he was pleased that it wouldn’t get any worse. It was reasonable, you thought- who wanted to be told that they were permanently disabled?

You helped him to process that, but he had finally  _ harrumphed _ about it one night with you, standing up with a distant look in his eyes. He spoke slowly and brokenly, but the message that he conveyed to you was clear: he was going to do the best damn job that he could with what he had left. You hugged him then, too.

Now, your hands twisted in the fabric of his sweater, you thank him for slowing down. You thank him for choosing to stay at the Tower and do what he can there, rather than risking his life on a planet far off from here. He didn’t need to atone for sins of the past anymore. He didn’t need to have that burden hanging over his head any longer.

“I love you.” He says, voice strong and unbroken. That took time, a lot of time compared to everything else. His voice would shake and the words would come out slow, or, more commonly, he’d struggle to say it at all.

“I love you, too,” You bend around him to kiss his neck. “So much.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not caught up on destiny post-red war, so this might be inaccurate, but i just wanted a fix-it fic


End file.
